A very mixed bag this time, even a coupla politickle ones, hope that's not verboten.

There once was a bloke from BiloxiWho had a pet Canvasback duck, see? The quacker would waddle From puddle to puddleAnd churn each one into a muck-sea.

There once was a filly from FargoWho carried beaucoup excess cargo. So huge was her chest That she had a vestWhich, opened, would cover Key Largo.

Expressing emotion is “corny”In trendy and hip Californy, So ennui is in. A cardinal sinIs letting it slip you are horny.

Said Rev. Henry Ward Beecher:"The hen is a marvelous creature!" The hen was so grateful, She laid him a crateful –And thus did the hen reward Beecher.{partial plagiary}

Our UN ambassador BoltonIs arrogant, rude & revoltin’. America’s rep Is so out of stepThat even our allies are boltin’!

The deeds of “The Hammer” DeLayWould take Al Capone’s breath away! Let's hope he does time For organized crime –A few hundred years sounds OK.(And that without undue delay.(And that's how we undo DeLay!))

There once was a bloke from BiloxiWho had a pet Canvasback duck, see?The quacker would waddleFrom puddle to puddleAnd churn each one into a muck-sea.

How coincidental! I have posted a limerick on OEDILF that was just approved, but as it was being approved CJ objected to it. Here it is:

Biloxi is coastal in Miss., The home of casinos — but hiss! Katrina has ravaged, And looters have savaged, This beautiful city of bliss.

Here is what CJ says:

"Camille trashed the place pretty badly in 1969 and put the beaches off limits for swimming. I was back almost a decade later and you still couldn't go into the water although swimming there was difficult in the best of times. As I recall, there were long stretches where you could walk out a hundred yards and still have the water not reach your knees. In 1970, an African-American friend of mine from California was pulled over by a Biloxi cop and given a ticket for some relatively minor offense. When my friend politely pointed out to the cop that he had marked a 'C' in the box for race, he was told (and I quote) 'That's for colored, boy!'"

And:

"'This beautiful city of bliss'?? Have you been there? I lived there at five different times in my illustrious Air Force career and 'bliss' is not the first word that springs to mind overall. In fact, I was first there in 1970 shortly after hurricane Camille trashed the place and the locals absolutely loathed us G.I.s (something about 'stealing' delicate Southern belles from Biloxian mouth-breathers), sometimes violently so. Still, 'bliss' is a relative term, I suppose."

Given those 2 comments and always wanting to be accurate, does anyone know about Biloxi? I had heard that it was beautiful before Katrina ravaged it, but CJ obviously disagrees. Do I have it wrong? If so, suggestions?

To answer your question, we don't mind the pornographique material here. Love your limerick, though it sounds like you didn't write it?

Your profile doesn't have a location, but I was wondering about your use of "daft." I don't think you're British ("realize" instead of "realise"), but "daft" might persuade me otherwise. (I love guessing games! )

I remember hearing "moot" used about 3 years ago when someone in a meeting said that something or other was now "moot". From the context, they were implying that it was not worth discussing this thing anymore.

Although I think the correct use of the word means that the point is now open to debate. So maybe it is both: debatable, but not worth the energy needed to debate it.

So what do the British mean by it?

"Your point, sir, is moot," just might say,"It's debatable. Have it your way.It's not worth what you'd doTo convince me that youHave it right. Find some new game to play."

It means that the matter under discussion is still open to debate but has now become merely an academic question since it is unlikely ever to be resolved - either because events have overtaken it or because it is no longer of much importance.

This is something I've railed against for several years. If anyone cares they can search for "moot" in the board and they'll usually find a post by me on the subject. The meanings given in Di's link are mutually opposing, and show the way that the word has become debased. The meaning is quite definite: "A debatable question, an issue open to argument".

It is obvious that a lot of people took the word and guessed at its meaning from the context. However, they guessed wrong, and produced the second part of the definition, which is diametrically opposed to the true meaning: "an irrelevant question, a matter of no importance".

Normally I am of the descriptive persuasion when I see the meanings of words changing over time. On this occasion I feel strongly that, since the two meanings (which are often given equal weight by dictionaries) are incompatible, only the correct meaning should be given, with perhaps a usage note explaining the incorrect usage.

Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.

This moot discussion made me smile, because I just weathered another one on my high school email discussion group! One adamantly claimed it meant only "debatable." Others, like me, claimed it meant pointless to discuss because whatever the issue was had already been decided. Then I consulted several online dictionaries and came up with even more meanings, and Arnie, I think that some of them predate the one you and I favor, perhaps? I don't have time to research historical uses of the word right now,though:

Here's what I posted at my HS site;Oxford English Dictionary:

moot

• adjective. subject to debate or uncertainty: a moot point.

• verb. put forward for discussion.

• noun 1 (in Anglo-Saxon and medieval England) a legislative or judicial assembly. 2 Law a mock trial set up to examine a hypothetical case as an academic exercise.

— ORIGIN Old English, assembly or meeting; related to MEET1.

MSN Encarta Dictionary:moot

adjectiveDefinition:

1. arguable: open to argument or disputeWhether nutritional supplements are beneficial is a moot question.

2. not relevant: irrelevant or unimportantIf they refuse to compromise, mediation is a moot issue.

3. law not legally relevant: legally insignificant because of having already been decided or settled.Whether he was entitled to do business under that name was moot, because his company had ceased trading.

The noun form was the first. It was Old English for a meeting or assembly. It became in Anglo-Saxon usage a type of court or tribunal. The OED has it right; notice that it makes no mention of the erroneous "not worth discussing".

Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.